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GhostRider3/3

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Posts posted by GhostRider3/3

  1. 5 minutes ago, Flharfh said:

    Looks like I am a little late to the party, but I finished this campaign today and I wanted to comment with what a good time it was. Comments - 

    First two missions are pretty easy and self explanatory. Third one, the first Stavelot battle - not difficult to win, but difficult to cap the last victory point (the town square) to get the fuel capture bonus. 

    Staumont - very difficult but at least you have ample forces. I pushed in directly along the main road and lost 2-3 panthers to the concealed 90mm TDs. 3 mortar barrages failed to destroy them and thankfully I had the two king tigers from capturing the fuel depot in Stavelot 1 to neutralize them. I didn't attempt the Roua objectives and the sanitarium seems too far away to realistically capture in the time given if you don't swing around and go through Roua. I got a 'draw' which allowed me to continue, but that includes me not getting credit for one of the objectives I had captured despite there being no allied troops there. 

    Stavelot 2 - the most difficult of the campaign. You are attacking a fortified enemy who has superior forces. At first you think the two KTs and the Panther can easily handle the six vehicle American SPAT battery. They can't penetrate your armor, but a few hits from them will damage your gun, optics, or tracks which is just as good as a total kill. Still, killing them is worth a lot of points so you have to do it. I suggest inching your way up the middle with the ACs and tanks and hoping for good RNG. I admit I had to reload this one a few times. It seems very difficult to actually capture any of the objectives other than the "road screen" one given that you face a superior, dug in infantry force with ATG support. What I did was use my initial artillery to bombard the known ATG locations, advance and destroy the SPAT battery, capture the road screen objective, pick off any extra enemies I could, and minimize my losses. I lost the battle but apparently not badly enough to prevent me from progressing. 

    Werbemont -easier than Staumont or Stavelot 2. At this point your forces are depleted but this map is relatively fair. I was able to win a moderate victory on my first attempt by going around the right side and going for the three highest VPs. 

    All in all this was a great campaign that I think captures the essence of the difficulties the Germans faced in 1944/45. I tip my hat to the designer. 

     

    I know this game and the campaign have been out for years, but here are my constructive criticisms (mostly to the game engine): 

    Infantry in small buildings seem very resilient. It seems to take quite a few HE shells to neutralize teams/sections in small unfortified Belgian houses. 

    Mortars - don't seem to do much of anything against dug in infantry (buildings, woods, foxholes). 

    A few stragglers shouldn't prevent capture of a victory point. The first battlefront games handled this fine . . .as long as you have superior forces at the VP, it should count as captured. 

    Forward observer and on-map mortars - basically impossible to use practically on the attack. Might as well expend all ammo on preliminary bombardments. 

    Some strange things with infantry. They take casualties very easily, but are extremely resilient - I frequently had 2/8 or 3/10 infantry squads still combat capable. 

    Defeated gun/vehicle crews too easily return to battle with small arms. Combat ineffective units should be removed or should rout off the map.

    In campaign where losses are not replenished, badly damaged squads should be merged somehow to prevent very small, basically combat worthless units. 

     

     

    Glad you enjoyed the Campaign.  It was a good one.  There are many more.  I saw your critiques, you are not wrong in some, but some are harder to complete to make the game manageable.  My guess as far as HE into Houses is, yes devastating but not nearly as devastating as putting SMOKE rounds in a building as they are phosphorus-based.  The Germans did this at Arnhem, and visa versa possibly.  I do find the HE rounds effective, it just may take 2-3 rounds, MG fire is so so, but the German FLAK guns are devastating to Infantry in buildings most of the time.  Stragglers are a pain but they possibly did this because of mechanics... maybe? 

    As far as the Campaign is replenished, that is all based on the designer.  I look at how many days is this campaign, and realistically it would be to replenish troops in combat the next day.  Sure in real life you could take a driver and give him a rifle, but honestly he might be too shell-shocked or such to even be of any use.  Anyhow good stuff, there are many scenarios and campaigns out there.

  2. Honestly, at least for the Mediterranean Theatre, I just wish we got the TOE's.  No scenarios or campaigns, we can make those ourselves. LOL  I just wan the ability to use the editor to create 41-42 (Late) Scenarios where I feel its most competitive on both sides.  Damn challenging for PVP as well.  PBEM.

  3. True, I also think that there is a plethora of people that would enjoy the challenge difficulties of early war, especially with the German Forces as their tanks were... say on Par with Allied tanks, not a real advantage, and the Soviets would definitely be a major challenge, from AT rifles to the obvious T-34, and KV tanks.  All in all I think the early war is more exciting as far as historical battles and just pure challenge.

  4. I know this has been discussed a bunch of times but had a question.  Could the Battlefront Team just add a 1941-1942(late) TOE to the game as a paid patch update if you wanted it?  I mean people like me would love to make and design scenarios.  I don't think anyone would even care if we got scenarios just as long as we could get the TOE for old CMAK.  The tiles are already there, maybe just a toggle between Italy and Africa for some unique tile buildings and such but If I could I would love to see it again.  Starting Playing CMAK back when I was in my early 30's.... lol would love to do it before my 60's.  You all do a damn good job and as consumers, obviously we always are wanting.

     

    Loyal Customer/Semper Fi.

     

    James.

     

  5. My wish for an early 1940-43.  Call it Operation OH MY GOD!

    Germany vs Allies France and North Africa...  I think all that is needed to do that is to add a bunch of tiles from the Italian Theatre and TOE... ish.

    Then add Russian tiles as well which would make the editor basically a master editor for OH MY GOD Everything.. LOL

    This would be wonderful for Scenario, and Campaign designers to work off of.  Although the Uniforms, TOE would be that massive work that the geniuses behind Battlefront are.  Hats off to you all, for everything that you give us.

    James.

  6. On 11/5/2023 at 2:33 AM, bruno2016 said:

    ok interesting.

    Btw would u be interested in playing Clash of the Titans Redux? Lots of tricky LOS, huge OBs, thick armor,...

     

    I see Mr. Herm has a video of my scenario on Youtube.  Massive blasting...LOL  Initially Clash of Titans Redux was a German Counter Assault, Let the Russians come in and slap them up while you await for your reinforcements to detrain and move to position...etc.  It is a slugfest for the German player for sure, but it has many features for players, rolling hills, ravines, heavy and light woods, close combat if it gets that far and the use of many vehicles from both sides, although I am in the stages of doing a Kursk like battle of now with certain vehicles.  Let me know if you two slug it out, would like to get your impressions.  I also have an Italian scenario you both might be interested in as well.

     

    Cheers,

    James

  7. On 10/18/2023 at 9:33 AM, Vacillator said:

    Great intro video for what is a great battle.

    Slightly off topic but @GhostRider3/3 did an excellent later version of the same battle, called 'Barkmanns Corner Revisited'.  I played it single player as Axis a while ago and it was a tough one but I was ultimately successful.  H2H might be somewhat trickier I'm sure...

    Thank you Vacillator, much appreciated.  If anyone should ever want it, It's on my Dropbox.  It was with "A Few Good Men" Sight, but it's not there anymore.  But if anyone should ever need it just PM me, it has two AI plans.

  8. On 10/11/2022 at 6:52 PM, ham17 said:

    Maybe it's already there or someone has asked this many times, but is anyone trying to create a Budapest map or The Siege of Budapest scenario?
    There seems to be a maps and scenarios for Stalingrad, though.

    Making a Master Map, or possibly 3 to 4 master maps of Budapest would be a huge undertaking, but possible.  It would just take someone or a group to do it.  :)  I got to meet a veteran Hungarian Pioneer (Engineer)  His name was Pistobachi (Spelling),

    I have his Bio but talked with him many times about the battle of Budapest.  He said the first waves of Soviet troops, maybe 6 out of 10 had weapons and NKVD had units with LMG's set up in case they turned back.  He was in an OP and had significant views.  They had blocked the streets with cars, carts whatever so when the tanks rolled over they would use Grenade bundles, Panzersfaust, or even Panzershrecks.  The battles were very violent he said and he lost a few comrades.  He was eventually captured and could only hope that his wife and daughter, (His son was killed by Soviet forces near the Don area) would not be mistreated.  (Over 100K would be raped and assaulted).  Anyways he said as an Engineer the Soviets treated him decent as he could fix a lot of things wrong with the camp.  He said the first things they took were his Spork, Boots, bread bag, and Kochgeschirre (Mess tin).  He was eventually released in 1948.

  9. 1 hour ago, Bleskaceq said:

    I've checked the updated scenario. I didn't describe the confusion I had with the mortars properly I think. What I meant was that the two off-map 81mm mortar sections have a very limited maximum range, check attached image. They can't physically put any rounds beyond the drawn line. And I am not sure if that was intentional, say the defence was so hasty that the mortars didn't have enough time to set up properly and can only reach your area and support you if the enemy manages to break through the initial river defence line?

    mortarRange.png

     

  10. 5 hours ago, Hilts said:

    We won't be playing that one again but we may try out the German counter-attack at some point but has that problem with the missing Canadian platoon HQs been sorted out in the counter-attack scenario?

    There are no issues as far as that goes, and that had been rectified.  The Canadians are defending with what they have left and available to prevent the German attack from succeeding. So some units have been displaced.

  11. Latest version   https://www.dropbox.com/s/vp0uuu1nu7o9vtt/A Once Quiet Town Easier V2.btt?dl=0

    German Counterattack  https://www.dropbox.com/s/w85c0bs5njnllhl/A Once Quiet Town German Counterattack.btt?dl=0

     

    Normal Version... not intended for H2H.  This was the raw version with little updating, but pretty hardcore.   https://www.dropbox.com/s/la4uw2u5cuoohvd/A Once Quiet Town.btt?dl=0

     

  12. 5 hours ago, Bleskaceq said:

    Hey, thanks for making the scenario.

    I've recently finished a hvh game against Hilts on the easier version of the scenario and I'd like to share a couple of problems I found and some feedback for the German side.

    • The briefing was extremly confusing to me. Didn't really know what sort of overall friendly force should I have and what should I recieve as reinforcements later. I think that just adding a list of friendly forces for this scenario would solve this completely. Don't have to know when they'll arrive, just the knowledge of what forces I have would be enough for me to make decisions.
    • The supporting Battalion's mortar company tubes are out of range for most of the map. They can barely reach past the Pass objective. I hope that's not intentional. I'd give them the range to at the very least be able to cover the town objective.
    • The deployment or rather the lack thereof. I suppose the idea is for the german player to just get thrown in and to deal with the situation. I am not a huge fan of that, but I can appreciate it. One thing I'd appeal for is to at least have the ability to reposition foxholes and obstacles.
    • The map itself. I like the look of it and how diverse with terrain it is. I have found it a bit too narrow for the scale of forces ar play. Also there are only a couple of key terrain features that can "lock off" the rest of the map for the enemy. Basically what happened in our game was that we entered this sort of stalemate where neither of us was able to advance anywhere.

    Anyway, it's a cool and unique little (quite big actually) scenario. Cheers

    Hello and thanks for playing the scenario.  I have since your reply updated the briefing to be a bit more less cryptic.  :)  Added 120mm Mortar which should help.  Deployment is based on parts of the Aufklärung setting up and Pioneers doing their job hastily before the Allies attack as their approach was near.... gives the impression of a somewhat hastily setup but gives the German player enough time to maneuver some things if they wish.  The area is cramped yes which adds I think more to the Italian theatre of impassible rocky areas, narrow gorge and rivers and streams which were abundant.  But it was really created as a difficult Allied crossing vs German position in mind after reading a bunch of material from that part of the war.  Here is the latest version with with some of your input in mind. thanks again, I hope you two play it again and try out the German Counterattack version as well.   My drop box.  https://www.dropbox.com/s/vp0uuu1nu7o9vtt/A Once Quiet Town Easier V2.btt?dl=0

  13. 3 hours ago, PEB14 said:

    Looks like the "final product" is not available anymore, only the January 2022 version…

    Is it possible to get it? What shall be played, the "Easier v2" version or the "normal" one?

    Hello, you can grab any of my scenarios here. https://www.dropbox.com/s/vp0uuu1nu7o9vtt/A Once Quiet Town Easier V2.btt?dl=0   The easier V2 is the most updated and balanced.  It is designed in mind with a major Allied attack across a river in a narrow bit of Italy over the Marano River.  A good use of smoke should be used when making your crossing and disrupting any enemy spotters and guns.  The second mission to this is the German counterattack version where the German 26th Panzer is now in place to throw a counterattack at the Allies who supposedly would have crossed it and taken the town.

  14. So, it came to my attention some of the HQ units were not showing up.  Here is the fixed version.  https://www.dropbox.com/s/j63gdei96ndnsma/A Once Quiet Town Easier V2.btt?dl=0  British 7,9,11 and 12 Companies the HQ was not showing up.

    It was strange as everything shows in the editor and on map. However, I think there was an issue when they get deployed, they would randomly not find the transport and because they are the smallest unit, would be left without a seat.  In all of my editing of scenarios and creating content I had never seen this before.  The fix was simple... just add more transports to the unit even though the entire Company was "Lorried"    My guess is it could have something to do with the Bedford TT truck.

  15. 3 hours ago, kohlenklau said:

    Damn tragic James! I thought you male strippers got the summers off? 🙂

    No worry. My KV-1 project is too hard at this point. I raise the white flag of surrender.

    So, any previous offers of help to ME to make that Barbarossa map, may be rescinded. initial here here and here. sign here. --OFFICIAL STAMP-- ok, you're done. No worry, thanks and best wishes. I appreciated the kind offer. 

    Well just so you know Kohlenklau I have most of the map in grids so I am working on it but its a slow roll... too many dang projects and bloody work.  I just need about 3 weeks of peace... LOL

  16. Yeah sadly this Summer I had been gone mostly for work.  I have not really had a chance to do much of anything as of late.  The early war stuff would be great, but I dont think this will ever happen, unfortunately because I think it brings out the best of Combat mission when tactics was more relevant than the 1200m kills from Panthers and the lot and you had short barrel 75 guns, mediocre 37mm to 47mm guns.  Anyhow I am working on some more Italian Theatre maps for some Brazilian units.. probably 2-3 small to medium unit actions.  Then if I have the time will be making a Master Map or so of the Brody-Dubno area perhaps.

  17. 4 hours ago, Vacillator said:

    James, I think I may have missed this, and although I have the original version I can't see any evidence that I played that one either.  I'll try to devote a bit of time to it, FI will make a bit of change to recent stuff.  Think I need to make a to-do list though as things are stacking up 😬.

    Awesome, this scenario is the German counterattack after an initial Allied advance over the river.  Thanks for playing it.

     

    James.

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